State health care exchange officials said they had thoroughly vetted Christa Ann McClure, the Connect for Health Colorado director they placed on paid administrative leave Tuesday after learning she had been indicted for stealing from her last employer.

McClure, 51, pleaded not guilty Feb. 6 in federal District Court in Montana to eight counts of theft and fraud from a nonprofit housing agency in Billings.

She was indicted Jan. 16 and notified her current Denver employer, the state-sponsored health exchange, on Monday, a few days after the story broke in Montana media, Connect for Health spokesman Ben Davis said in a telephone interview.

Connect for Health performed a criminal background check and checked references before hiring McClure in March, Davis said.

"She was completely clean," he said. Her position as executive director of Housing Montana of Billings, he said, made her well-qualified for her post as Connect for Health's director of partner engagement she was liaison with state and federal partners, such as Medicaid officials. The job pays $130,000 a year.

"Integrity and public trust are paramount to the mission of Connect for Health Colorado," Davis said in a statement released Wednesday. "We take extensive measures to protect consumer information and technology systems."

Connect for Health Colorado, a new health insurance marketplace, was established by a state law in 2011 and opened for business in October. Its official name is the Colorado Health Benefit Exchange.

In her job with the exchange, McClure doesn't have access to any of the exchange's finances, Davis said.

McClure, who has not been convicted of any charges, should have informed Connect for Health much earlier of the accusations she was facing, Davis said.

The charges against her are "very serious, and we are taking this very seriously," he said.

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Colorado health exchange officials say indicted employee was vetted